What do you think about Youtube ads?

  • I don't care about ads

    Votes: 1 2.9%

  • I don't like them, but I'll just feed the cat while they're on

    Votes: 6 17.6%

  • I don't like them, and I'll give in. Let's go Premium!

    Votes: 2 5.9%

  • I don't like them, but I haven't decided what to do

    Votes: 7 20.6%

  • What do you mean? I don't see any ad

    Votes: 11 32.4%

  • Something else

    Votes: 7 20.6%
  • Total voters
    34
Redglyph

Redglyph

proud GASP member
Supporter
Youtube is pushing its ads again, forcing people who use an ad blocker to comply. It happened a few months ago already, but it seemed to be only a test. A few days ago, pop-ups started appearing again, but it was possible to simply close them. Now, they have a timer, and the user must wait several seconds before closing them. After searching a little, I read that the ads were also getting more frequent and longer.

Understandably (to some extent), the Youtube people want to put ads since they have to pay for their infrastructure and the content creators. But when I disable my ad blocker, I find there's too much of it, and it's very annoying to wait for an ad to finish before watching a video when I'm looking for a solution to a problem. It's not like ads on a webpage that you can scan and ignore unless something is interesting; here, you must endure them all; there's no selection. There's also the fact they didn't have ads before and that it looks like a nasty move to impose them now that they've had so much success. Isn't collecting information valuable enough for them any more?

I'm curious to hear your opinion and how you react to ads. Do they bother you? I've heard they were more frequent on TV in the US than in Europe, so perhaps it's more readily accepted there? Or is it a myth?

Do you plan to register to Youtube Premium?
 
I basically only use you-tube for music/concerts so an occasional advert won't stop me from using the service. I have encountered the new ad blocker deterrent, yet so far I'd consider it only a minor hassle.
 
YouTube is also going after users who use any adblock add-ons. You get three strikes then your either banned permanently, or suspended for a while. Pure greedy corpo bull-crap.
 
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Redglyph said:
Oh, I have already seen the popup many times more. Did you see warnings that you could get banned? 😲
Click to expand...
I don't know if that policy has rolled out to every country yet but they are testing it out.
mashable.com

YouTube tests fighting ad blockers with 3-strike rule

It's a "small experiment."
mashable.com mashable.com
www.androidauthority.com

YouTube could be testing a three-strikes policy for ad blocking (Update)

A Redditor has discovered a popup on YouTube, warning them of a three-strikes policy for blocking ads. YouTube has since confirmed the test.
www.androidauthority.com www.androidauthority.com
 
I mainly use Youtube for watching science programs on my indoor bike (World Science Festival, Royal Institute, London Mathematical Society). If necessary I will go Premium in order to watch the programs undisturbed.

pibbuR who is a numberphile (sadly not Numberphile)
 
I'm not sure yet what I'll do. I suppose I could eventually go Premium too when it becomes too annoying, but at this price, they could at least have a more interesting offer than just ad removal.
 
No to premium. Currently gritting my teeth, waiting out the timer to close the anti-blocker warning, until Ublock is updated to deal with it.

Edit: actually, right after posting this, I forced an update on Ublock's Filter lists and it seems to have fixed the Youtube nagging that's... popped up... in the last couple days.
 
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The few times I watch you tube, I try to turn the volume to 0 and close my eyes during the ad. But the only major problem is to extimate its length during the blink of an eye. ;)
My other method is to watch only embedded videos, like those here on the watch. Short ones don't have any ads - yet.
 
I got Premium as part of my mobile package. I would otherwise probably have been watching less Youtube. It's on a lot for music and I watch game-related stuff as well as some comedy skits.
 
I've been using Youtube less and less over the last five years so while it still concerns me I am not sure I would even bother to go premium when it gets forced. I haven't investigated cost of premium yet though.
 
If the ads here in the US get particularly annoying (especially political), I just set my VPN overseas, say to Australia, where I get a different set of ads that are more entertaining, e.g., ads for Tim-Tams or for Drop Bear Repellent.
 
I gave in and went premium quite a while ago. I also dumped Directv and signed up for youtube tv since they won the bidding war for NFL sunday ticket. I havent missed a lions game is almost 30 years since NFL Sunday ticket started and I’m not about to now. I do find it a bit annoying that you don’t get YouTube premium included in the cost of YouTube tv.

I watch a ton of youtube though. I have learned how to do a ton of stuff through youtube videos. I’m finishing my basement by watching youtube videos. I do have a tile business so I’m not green , but I also can’t just stand around and watch the other trades to learn all the fine points. Lol.
 
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I use an adblocker when on the internet, so I'm not pleased by this change. Would I buy youtube premium? I don't know, I can't say right now. I am trying to limit my internet costs and already have Amazon prime, amazon channels I subscribe to, Hulu (ad-free) and so on.

I did try youtube tv, its actually really good if you want to watch live tv. You can watch live cable tv on your smartphone with a good picture now. You get 90 channels including some good channels.

Having said that, youtube tv is expensive, $65 a month. But I can see it being worth it if you like watching live tv (such as live sports, breaking news (FOX CNN MSNBC) and so on)

Youtube premium is $13.99 a month, a lot cheaper, but seems more like a youtube scam to force people to buy it through ads annoyance.
 
Redglyph said:
There's also the fact they didn't have ads before
Click to expand...
Um... the ads have always been there. The only way you didn't see them is if you were using an ad-blocker, which automatically removed them. I expect that this is the case for the majority of people who install ad-blockers and don't give ads a second thought as they never encounter any afterwards.

The reality of the situation is that the outcome of websites starting to decline access to users who block ads was inevitable. The number of people using ad blockers was growing every year, which means that every year every advertising-supported website that needs to pay the bills (which is most of them) had a lower budget to work with. And we all know that inflation and the cost of labour and everything else has gone up significantly over the last few years, so if anything, this was even more pronounced now.

If they stick with it, I expect that a giant like YouTube starting to deny access to ad-blocking users will be opening the floodgates for the rest of the internet to follow, because most smaller websites were actually hurting due to ad-blocking far more than the Google-owned YouTube.
 
No offense I'm not surprised by your answer as you made your point on the other thread. Like I said I get it you run a few web sites money, ads, and clicks matter.

I for one will continue to use AdBlock as many sites have to many ads that always crash or slowdown my browser. If I need to make another account so be it.

You could also watch as a guest and they have noway to ban you.
 
I think that most people understand that operating websites costs money unless someone happens to run them out of their pocket at their own expense. The illusion that everything online is (or should be) free has been maintained for so long simply because the cost of operating advertising-supported websites has been offloaded to the people who weren't blocking ads. But sooner or later their number becomes too small to be sustainable. If a website isn't making enough money to at least cover the expenses that it generates, the final outcome is probably clear to everyone who relies on a paycheck to survive from month to month.

That's why it makes sense for every website to offer ad-free access with a modest donation, so that everyone who wants to get rid of the ads for whatever reason can do so in a way that isn't detrimental to the website in question.

Btw, detecting ad blockers does not in any way rely on users having an account on the site that they use. I expect that any banning that YT does will be IP and/or cookie-based.
 
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